McCarthy, Yankees avoid sweep, beat Astros

Associated Press

Published
11:16 pm EDT, Thursday, August 21, 2014

New York Yankees starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) ORG XMIT: NYY101 less

New York Yankees starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) ... more

Photo: Kathy Willens

Photo: Kathy Willens

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New York Yankees starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) ORG XMIT: NYY101 less

New York Yankees starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) ... more

McCarthy pitched a four-hitter and the New York Yankees, trying to claw closer in the AL wild-card chase, avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Houston Astros 3-0 Thursday.

McCarthy improved to 5-2 with a 1.90 ERA in eight starts since the Yankees got him from Arizona in an early July trade. His first outing for New York came a day after Tanaka, off to an All-Star start as a major-league rookie, pitched his last game before an elbow tear put him on the disabled list.

Dexter Fowler hit a broken-bat double in the Houston fourth — the barrel reached the infield dirt, the ball two-hopped off the right-field wall — that put runners at second and third. Marc Krauss followed with a hard grounder off McCarthy's leg and, after taking a moment to locate the ball on the grass, the lanky pitcher zipped a throw to first that ended the threat.

McCarthy escaped another second-and-third jam in the seventh when Astros rookie Jon Singleton struck out — right after hitting a foul pop to the third-base side that comedian Chris Rock recovered — and retiring Carlos Corporan on a flyball.